Meet an Artopian: Chiara Saldivar

Jun 16, 2015

What is the best part about creating art?We all have a bit of an artistic mind in some level. Whether it is cooking, carpentry, business, painting. The best part about creating to me, is to be in your own zone, connected to another world, with what is inside of you pouring it out. Since an early age I have been a crafter. I enjoy experimenting with my ideas, visions & thoughts through mediums, surfaces, shapes, colors. It is so fulfilling, it is infinite what you can do. Discovering each reaction, mixing the elements and creating from nothing to something powerful. I call it magic.

Tell us about growing up in Venezuela?I was born and raised in Caracas, the capital. Caracas is one of the most fascinating cities in the world. The whole city is in a massive valley called “El Avila” also known as “the lung” of Caracas. The vegetation makes it misty in the morning and you can witness the most beautiful views from wherever you are standing. The contrast of the colonial and modern architecture are amusing, deep green plants everywhere. Busy. A very busy place, with so many typical things, foods, music, moments… even to ride the bus is a wild experience… so packed that sometimes you hang by the door holding from a pole to the outside of the bus while is riding, the drivers usually are blasting salsa music, you can see different saint images on the inside of the windshield and something really noticeable: even the sketchiest looking character will always stand up to give an older person their seat. That is awesome! Every time I go there I see it.

Venezuela is so rich in natural resources. It has all the different landscapes in a relatively small country, its people have funny sense of humor and they are great. Too bad I can’t say the same about the people who run it and ruined it. You would have to be there when I lived there to have the full experience. It doesn’t make justice to put it in words. To describe it in two words… beautifully contrasting. Growing up there was very fun and unique.

Who has been your biggest inspiration as an artist?I very much admire Escher and Dali. In my family, my cousin Damian. When I was young, he studied graphic design and I will stare at his drawings and the different typography of his homework. Nowadays, the muralists I have met from all over the world have dramatically inspired me. I got to meet in person and work with over 50 of them. It was unique.

In each field, someone different inspire me really. I even have favorite tattoo artists: my friends in Ireland Lou and Ian Flynn. Pretty much the people around me who are so passionate about what they do and they just keep going, it just gets better and better. It’s contagious.

Whats your favorite color?mmmmm… you mean today? … Are you really asking that to a Gemini, girl, artist?

What can art teach about love?Everything. Art is one of the most amazing gifts to humanity. It is precious and infinite, interactive. It does something to you. It can be gentle, or not. It is a message itself, of its own language that passes on and travels on thought times. The endless fire that bring to some of us, can be life changing.

Art is creation. To be able to create, is majestic. Nature is art, the way we write and speak is art. In my eyes, everywhere I look there it is. Art is a circle, it is inevitable not to receive it and we must give that inspiration back ten fold. Whatever you create, it has your soul behind it. The positive and the negative, your time, your expression, done with your unique energy, it’s a gift to your own self and to the world once is manifested. Art is there to inspire, and that, to me is love.